Girl In Translation: How does the text make you think about justice in the world?

Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok

         Girl In Translation is mostly about fitting in, child labor and poverty, and the biggest problem of all: racism. The problem with fitting in and trying to fit in makes me think about what happens at our school now. There's a bunch of cool, popular kids and there's the bunch that has no friends at all and they're always feeling lonely. I feel even more bad for them at lunch because they don't have a friend to eat lunch with. Not everyone fits in and not everyone has a good friend or just a plain friend and I think that's really unfair. I always see a lot of people teasing them and it's really unfair.

          Poverty led Kimberly, the girl facing all of these problems to having no friends at all at first. It led to so much teasing, especially when all the girls were changing in the locker rooms.  All of Kimberly's clothes were home-made except for her uniform, but her underwear was and she didn't have any bras or socks because she was too poor. Buying those things meant wasting her hard earned money from working with her mom at the clothing factory gone. She always got teased by kids because of that. It makes me thing about how in the world, not everyone is rich and wealthy so no one should tease someone because of that. It's unfair because it's not her choice and it wasn't a choice to be born like that and she didn't choose to be poor.

          Racism is so much of a problem. Kimberly and her mother came from Hong Kong to America, New York, Brooklyn and she did not know that much English. At school, her students and even her teacher teased her and laughed at her because she didn't understand what the teacher was talking about. Outside of school, most rich and white people teased her and her mother. When her mother wanted the man to fix the oven, he broke it instead and even charged her for money. It's unfair because just because they don't know English, that does not mean they are stupid or stupid in any way. It makes me think about how a lot of people in the real world try to cheat money off of people that can't speak English. It's disrespectful and rude.

        

Burned: What really hard things are happening in the text?

Burned by Ellen Hopkins         
          Throughout this whole book, it is filled with problems and they lead to even bigger problems. Let's say the main character, Pattyn is just really messed up. But it's not all her fault. It deals a lot with her family too. One main problem is child abuse and adult abuse too. Her dad beats her up and beats her mom up too. He is very strict and expects everyone in this huge family to follow his orders. Pattyn didn't listen and the more she didn't care, the more he beat her up. Pattyn didn't want to deal with him, but she couldn't just let her dad boss her around like that. He only used Pattyn's mom for sex and that got Pattyn thinking about that too. There is also a deep problem that causes most of the family's problem.

          Religion. Religion nearly tore the whole family apart. Religion was why Pattyn was sent away to her aunt's ranch in the summer. Her dad is deeply religious and that's why he's so strict. Pattyn was a Mormon and was supposed to be a good one, too. But she started kissing and making out with guys, almost having sex with a useless boy that was soon forgotten, and started to drink and use drugs. She also did have sex in the summer and even became pregnant. Obviously, this is not what a Mormon should do. Her dad didn't like it and the people at church didn't like it either. A Brother at church said Pattyn was possessed by the Devil. Over the summer, Pattyn wasn't a Mormon anymore. This led to a big problem that wouldn't be fixed.

          Homelessness. When Pattyn's friend, Trevor learned that she had a secret love who she had sex with (Ethan) he told on her parents. Trevor even got Ethan's car with Ethan, Pattyn, and Pattyn's baby in it arrested and it crashed. Ethan died and so did the baby. This led to her dad being furious and disowning her. He already had a new son (his only) and Pattyn was useless. She had nowhere to go anymore.

          The pages in this book are really Burned and it shows a lot of problems teens outside deal with.

Reread: The Phantom Tollbooth Archetype Entry

          "Of course, if you've ever gotten a surprise package, you can imagine how puzzled and excited Milo was; and if you've you never gotten one, pay close attention, because someday you might. 'I don't think it's my birthday,' he ouzzled, 'and Christmas must be months away, and I haven't been outstandingly good, or even good at all.'" Page 12

          These are the words of a clueless hero. Milo was a hero because he saved the princesses Rhyme and Reason, but also because he saved himself from literally dying of boredom. He was the one who wanted to open the package and he also discovered a whole new world from it. He also has a lot of sidekicks or companions like Tock and the Humbug who helps him finish his task to find the princesses and rescue them and they were the ones who stood with Milo during the worst situations. For example, on page 234, Tock helps out everyone by helping them escape. The Humbug, is the shapeshifter. He keeps on getting in the way. For example, he got Milo into jail and he's also wrong most of the time. But I guess the Humbug can help in some ways to Milo. But Milo is the true hero even though he's wrong a lot of times because he mainly saved Rhyme and Reason and he was usually the one who met a lot of new people who helped them along the journey. Milo is the true hero.